Time for the Thai charter. No, it won't be exclusively Buddhist but will allow exposure to Thai culture.

Countries we trade more with than Israel:

Korea, South
United Kingdom
Saudi Arabia
Venezuela
Taiwan
France
Ireland
India
Nigeria
Russia
Italy
Brazil
Malaysia
Thailand
Switzerland
Netherlands
Israel

Census data on distribution of language speakers from 2007:
Hebrew: 213,576 speakers

Other languages more widely spoken in the U.S.:

Spanish 34,547,077
Chinese 2,464,572
Tagalog 1,480,429
French 1,355,805
Vietnamese 1,207,004
German 1,104,354
Korean 1,062,337
Russian 851,174
Italian 798,801
Arabic 767,319
Portuguese 687,126
Polish 638,059
French Creole 629,019
Hindi 532,911
Japanese 458,717
Persian 349,686
Urdu 344,942
Greek 329,825
Gujarathi 287,367
Serbo-Croatian 276,550
Armenian 221,865
Hebrew 213,576
Mon-Khmer, Cambodian 185,056
Hmong 181,069
Navajo 170,717
Yiddish 158,991
Laotian 149,045
Thai 144,405
Scandinavian 134,925
Hungarian 91,297

And you're looking at US Census Data. I'd imagine the bulk of those Yiddish speakers are in NY (Brooklyn, specifically). Does anyone have census data on DC languages spoken at home?

Wait, sorry that's 1980 data. Here's 2007:

Spanish or Spanish Creole 34,547,077
French (incl. Patois, Cajun, Creole) 1,984,824
Italian 798,801
Portuguese or Portuguese Creole 687,126
German 1,104,354
Yiddish 158,991
Greek 329,825
Russian 851,174
Polish 638,059
Serbo-Croatian 276,550
Armenian 221,865
Persian 349,686
Chinese 2,464,572
Japanese 458,717
Korean 1,062,337
Vietnamese 1,207,004
Tagalog 1,480,429

Census data on languages spoken at home in the U.S.:
Spanish or Spanish Creole 11,116,194
French (incl. Patois, Cajun, Creole) 1,550,751
Italian 1,618,344
Portuguese or Portuguese Creole 351,875
German 1,586,593
Yiddish 315,953
Greek 401,443
Russian 173,226
Polish 820,647
Serbo-Croatian 150,255
Armenian 100,634
Persian 106,992
Chinese 630,806
Japanese 336,318
Korean 266,280
Vietnamese 197,588
Tagalog 474,150

It's time for Washington Yiddish!

Anonymous wrote:

Foreign language instruction is woefully behind in the U.S. A whole network of bilingual schools would be a great idea, especially in an internationally-oriented city like ours.
Why not Hebrew or any other language? Hebrew texts are one of the foundations of Western civilization and modern Israel is a country where non-Jewish Africans and Eastern Europeans immigrate, too.
And why not study religious texts (Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Arabic, Slavonic, etc.) in a secular context?
Why shouldn't D.C. be a place to train future experts in the histories and cultures of the world's peoples?

Um, religious texts are not written in Modern Hebrew and there are not enough Modern Hebrew speakers in the world to warrant a bilingual immersion publicly funded charter school in DC.

But Modern Hebrew is a resurrected version of Talmudic Hebrew, and is therefore a not-too remote descendant language of Biblical Hebrew. It took no training for me to learn to read Middle English, and only a bit more work to learn Old English. I'm imagining that Hebrew would work the same way.

Beyond that, does DC charter law actually require that charter schools focus on studies with actual practical applications? Isn't there a dramatic arts focused charter, and a visual arts focused school (SAIL, which folded due to scandal rather than a problem with its charter)? I could be wrong, but my understanding is that if a school uses Hebrew, Amharic or Serbo-Croation but its students score adequately on the CAS and are otherwise prepared for further education, there's no problem.

A sampling of languages more widely spoken than Hebrew, according to Wikipedia:
Southern Quechua, Batak, Turkmen, Mossi-Dagomba, Armenian, Sukuma-Nyamwezi, Tshiluba (Luba-Kasai), Santali, Venetian, Kongo, Hiligaynon, Tigrinya, Mongolian, Bhili (Wagdi, etc.), Danish, Minangkabau, Kashmiri

My bet is that DC has as many Tigrinya speakers as it has Hebrew speakers. Tigrinya-language education for everyone!

Foreign language instruction is woefully behind in the U.S. A whole network of bilingual schools would be a great idea, especially in an internationally-oriented city like ours.
Why not Hebrew or any other language? Hebrew texts are one of the foundations of Western civilization and modern Israel is a country where non-Jewish Africans and Eastern Europeans immigrate, too.
And why not study religious texts (Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Arabic, Slavonic, etc.) in a secular context?
Why shouldn't D.C. be a place to train future experts in the histories and cultures of the world's peoples?

Um, religious texts are not written in Modern Hebrew and there are not enough Modern Hebrew speakers in the world to warrant a bilingual immersion publicly funded charter school in DC.

Foreign language instruction is woefully behind in the U.S. A whole network of bilingual schools would be a great idea, especially in an internationally-oriented city like ours.
Why not Hebrew or any other language? Hebrew texts are one of the foundations of Western civilization and modern Israel is a country where non-Jewish Africans and Eastern Europeans immigrate, too.
And why not study religious texts (Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Arabic, Slavonic, etc.) in a secular context?
Why shouldn't D.C. be a place to train future experts in the histories and cultures of the world's peoples?

Anonymous wrote:Immediate PP, do you mean a school with immersion in both Hebrew and Arabic? I personally think that would be fantastic and thought of that when I first heard about the school. I haven't kept up with all the messages in the thread but think it would be fantastic.

I think a few people on this thread may have suggested the idea before I did, but I don't know what exactly is being planned.

Immediate PP, do you mean a school with immersion in both Hebrew and Arabic? I personally think that would be fantastic and thought of that when I first heard about the school. I haven't kept up with all the messages in the thread but think it would be fantastic.

Honestly, guys, I think an Hebrew-Arab school might be a really interesting concept. But you have to start taking this a little more seriously. An anecdote does not make a dataset, and you will get hammered if your only basis for claiming appeal to AAs is that one guy once thought about starting a similar charter. Plus, some of the "facts" posted so far about location and student body seem almost made up or, putting it a little more nicely, wishful thinking. That I'm not alone with this sneaking suspicion, and that there's broader skepticism of some of the claims made so far, is clear from the posters who asked for sources on the Florida charter. Respect us, and we'll respect you!

"Although another source close to Stat tells the NYDN that he has no such plans in the works...."

Here's an AA who wants to start a Hebrew school:

http://deadspin.com/5863039/amare-stoudemire-is-contemplating-founding-a-hebrew-school